Ohio House may vote on re-criminalization today!

As of this summer, it appeared the Ohio House Judiciary Committee would hold strong against the cannabis re-criminalization pushed by the Senate. Sadly, that broke today when the committee voted to advance a committee substitute of SB 56. The 226-page amended bill only became available this morning. During the hearing, representatives appeared to anticipate a floor vote tomorrow.
 
If you live in Ohio, contact your state representative today. Urge them to vote “no” on SB 56 unless all changes to Issue 2 are removed.  
 
The lengthy bill would also regulate intoxicating hemp products, including by requiring them to be sold at adults-only dispensaries. It would also ensure the state finally starts distributing the revenue to municipalities that Issue 2 allocated.
 
As unfair as it is to have to grovel to keep voter-enacted freedoms, your voice has made a difference. When the Senate first proposed gutting the people’s law before the ink was dry in late 2023, it proposed completely eliminating home grow, slashing possession limits, and hiking taxes. Its bill earlier this year would’ve banned sharing cannabis and smoking in backyards. Those provisions have been pared down. 
 
But there are still outrageous provisions left that would take Ohio back to the days of arrests for possessing cannabis, and destroyed lives over a plant that is safer than alcohol. The committee substitute of SB 56 would:

• Re-criminalize cannabis obtained from anywhere other than Ohio retailers and home grown cannabis.
• Create a broad open container law, prohibiting cannabis that has ever been opened in the passenger area of a vehicle.
• Remove protections providing that responsible cannabis consumers cannot be denied custody of their children, benefits they are otherwise entitled to, and medical care — including organ transplants — or be stripped of their professional or occupational license.
• Prohibit cannabis smoking and vaping in any place other than some homes and agricultural lands. (Hotel rooms and bar patios could not allow cannabis, for example.)
• Allow landlords to ban vaping in rented homes.

Time is short. Make your voice heard and spread the word!